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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27459757">Lightning Fields</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/getoffmyhead/pseuds/getoffmyhead'>getoffmyhead</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lightning Fields [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Men's Hockey RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Relationship Negotiation, Threesome - M/M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:29:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,373</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27459757</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/getoffmyhead/pseuds/getoffmyhead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“We could, you know,” Zhenya finally said, the words racing to cross the finish line ahead of his self-preservation.</p><p>“Hmm?” Nikita asked distractedly while pulling at his fishing line to adjust the tension.</p><p>“Live together.”</p><p>“Ah, well. For that, you’d have to stop fucking Crosby.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nikita Kucherov/Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lightning Fields [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113092</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>153</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Lightning Fields</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A big thanks to sevenfists for betaing this for me! I knew it couldn't be perfect. ;) And Al, thank you for the motivation! It's not exactly 12k of pwp on a boat, but it's probably as close as I'll ever get.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Any other day, it might not have bothered Zhenya if Nikita didn’t text him back. Nikita could be a fickle phone user, fluctuating between three Instagram posts per week and year-long absences from social media. He frequently left his phone in his car or silenced in his pocket and took half an age to respond to the hilarious gifs Zhenya sent him, and over the months of their long-distance relationship, Zhenya had learned to be patient.</p><p>This was different, though. </p><p>Zhenya had been so excited to text Nikita, he had sent the message just after his alarm went off while he was still nestled in the blankets of a hotel bed in Washington D.C. </p><p>
  <i>Good morning, lover!!</i>
</p><p>He felt pretty justified in his excitement. After all, they had been anticipating this day for a while. For the first time since September, Nikita and Zhenya were getting a day together when neither of them was injured, hurting from a loss, or stealing the brief moments between team activities. The Penguins were flying into Tampa two days before game time, and Zhenya would be free for most of it. </p><p>
  <i>I’m getting in at noon, and then I’m all yours! Want to come get me? We can go out after.</i>
</p><p>Zhenya concluded with a string of kissy face emojis, and watched as the text went from delivered to read. When Nikita didn’t immediately answer, he followed up his suggestion with another. </p><p>
  <i>Or we could go straight to yours.</i>
</p><p>Zhenya alternated peach and eggplant emojis until he filled a whole line, sent it, and opened up Insta. He could wait. Nikita had read it, he was just formulating a response. No doubt he would come back with some quip—<i>oh, are you coming today? I forgot.</i> But after he got done teasing, he would reveal a plan. He would say where he was picking Zhenya up, where they were going. </p><p>He hadn’t replied by the time Zhenya caught up on his timeline, but that was okay. He was groggy. It was early morning, still. Zhenya kicked out of the comfortable bed to drag himself into the shower. </p><p>Zhenya’s phone finally buzzed while he was packing up his bag, but it was only the team announcing breakfast. It was half an hour since he woke up and sent the text, still not unreasonable. Nikita must have fallen back asleep. He had practice at nine, which left him plenty of time to respond before Zhenya took off. </p><p>Zhenya kept his phone close at hand during breakfast, half listening to his teammates. They were buzzy after the win. It always felt pretty great to beat Washington on their own ice. </p><p>By the time they were on the bus, it was two hours after Zhenya sent the text and he was starting to grow uneasy. Nikita must be awake, getting ready for practice, but still nothing came in. </p><p>
  <i>Should I get an Uber to yours, then?</i>
</p><p>Nikita would undoubtedly roll his eyes at the terse text and call him dramatic, but he deserved some of Zhenya’s venom. He was unfairly taking the wind out of Zhenya’s sails, depleting the excitement he had built up looking forward to this day.</p><p>Zhenya kept his phone in his periphery while boarding the plane, setting it face up on his thigh as the team settled in and the doors closed, but the screen showed no sign of life before he was forced to switch to airplane mode.</p><p>Zhenya spent the whole flight having fights of varying intensity with Nikita in his head until they landed. As soon as he turned his cell signal back on, his phone pinged.</p><p>
  <i>meet me here</i>
</p><p>The text was followed by a link to maps: an address by the water.</p><p>Bitterly, Zhenya lied to himself that he might just leave Nikita on read, give him a taste of his own medicine. Maybe he would invite a teammate out instead, go somewhere far away from the water. Or, even better, he would pick somewhere as close to Nikita’s location as he could, put it right in his face that Zhenya had found better company.</p><p>He told himself that as the plane taxied, as they loaded the bus and drove to the hotel, as he dragged his bag up to his room. But the snarling wolf of his anger lost the fight against his curiosity—he wanted to know what Nikita had planned by the water. Zhenya took his time washing his face and fixing his hair in the bathroom, telling himself he wasn’t going. He was just stretching his legs, he assured himself as he left his room.</p><p>Zhenya was still convincing himself he was only going for a walk when he reached the hotel lobby. As the doors to the elevator opened, he came face to face with Sid. Sid lit up like they hadn’t just seen each other on the plane and the bus—like they didn’t see each other every day of the hockey season.</p><p>“Hey, bud. You going out?”</p><p>It was Sid’s polite, Canadian way of asking if he could tag along. Zhenya thought he <i>should</i> invite Sid out—it was the perfect opportunity. Sid could always be trusted to sneak a cheat meal for some pancakes. Zhenya could just nudge him into brunch and leave Nikita’s text unanswered until after—maybe.</p><p>But Zhenya knew better. He was always going to the location Nikita had texted. The longer he floundered without saying anything, the more Sid grew to understand, too. His smile didn’t go away entirely. It just dimmed and diminished until it was obviously fake.</p><p>“Oh. Going to see Kucherov?”</p><p>Zhenya shrugged. “Maybe. Yes.” It wasn’t like he had ever really thought he would hold out. He only got four opportunities to see Nikita when they played each other during the regular season. He wasn’t going to waste one being angry in his hotel room. He would go be angry in Nikita’s presence, where he would have to deal with it.</p><p>Sid nodded. His eyes were fixed somewhere around Zhenya’s knees. They only came up for a fleeting instant to flash a practiced media smile. “Ah, well. I won’t keep you. Have fun on your date.”</p><p>It was weird, but Sid was always a little weird about Nikita. Zhenya mostly figured he had a problem with Zhenya dating a player on another team. At least, that’s what he told himself when the unease twisted in his stomach. It was better than thinking Sid simply disapproved of Nikita as a person.</p><p>Zhenya pulled up the Uber app on his phone once he got past Sid and punched in the address Nikita gave him. When the car was ordered, he sent a text back.</p><p>
  <i>on my way</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*****</p>
</div><p>The Uber dropped Zhenya off at a marina. As he got out, he could see nothing but the boats moored to the docks. He could hear the water thumping against dozens of idle hulls when the Uber engine faded into the distance.</p><p>A whistle to his left made Zhenya look. Nikita was leaning against the gated entrance of one of the private docks, leering at him. He was wearing pastel board shorts and boat shoes—the makings of a true Florida native—and somehow still looked hot.</p><p>“Looking for a good time?” Nikita asked, pulling his sunglasses down to make a show of scanning his eyes over Zhenya.</p><p>“I was supposed to meet someone,” Zhenya said. “My boyfriend.”</p><p>Nikita made a dismissive sound. “Boyfriends are boring. Come with me instead.”</p><p>The unease in Zhenya’s body melted away as he closed the gap between them. Nikita’s sneer morphed into an equally sharp smile as Zhenya gathered him into a hug.</p><p>“What are we doing out here?” Zhenya asked.</p><p>“Watching the manatees,” Nikita said, deadpan. He still had his sunglasses pulled down, and his eyes gave him away. They crinkled at the edges, amused by his own sarcasm. “Looking at your team, I gather you like fat, lazy things.”</p><p>“Fat things, yes,” Zhenya retorted, sneaking a hand down to grab a handful of Nikita’s ass. “We’ll see how lazy we look when we win.”</p><p>Nikita’s genuine smile broke through his bored expression. He pushed his sunglasses into place to hide the worst of it. “Come on,” he said and turned to stride off down the dock. Zhenya barely caught the door before it locked on him and trotted after Nikita.</p><p>Nikita led him down the floating dock, steady on his feet despite the rocking. They blew past boats of varying sizes—from little dinghies to multi-million dollar yachts—until, abruptly, Nikita turned.</p><p>“Did you spot one?” Zhenya called as he followed, more cautious on his feet as he searched the water for manatees. He didn’t think they were really there to watch wildlife, but one could never be too sure with Nikita.</p><p>Instead of answering, Nikita swung onto the motorboat nearest him, leaving Zhenya hovering beside it on the dock.</p><p>“Is this yours?”</p><p>“For today, yes,” Nikita said.</p><p>“Where’s the driver?”</p><p>Nikita gestured up and down his own body. “You’re looking at him.”</p><p>Zhenya stayed firmly planted on the dock.</p><p>“Oh, don’t be like that. I wanted us to be alone. I thought you would, too.”</p><p>“Why did you get a boat if all you wanted to do was have sex? We could have done that at your place.”</p><p>“Maybe,” Nikita said, sauntering over, “I wanted to have sex on a boat.”</p><p>Zhenya’s reservations were dropping by the second, but he held out. “Do you even know how to drive this thing?”</p><p>“It’s Tampa Bay, darling. We won’t be navigating through any typhoons. I think I’ll manage.”</p><p>Nikita held out his hand and wiggled his fingers impatiently. The last of Zhenya’s hesitation fell away as he grasped Nikita’s hand and stepped onto the boat. Nikita used the grip to pull Zhenya down into a kiss.</p><p>“Welcome aboard,” Nikita said.</p><p>“I’ll do what I can to earn my keep.”</p><p>Nikita licked his lips while staring at Zhenya’s mouth. “I bet you will. How about you start by getting the ties while I start us up?”</p><p>“Sure thing, Captain,” Zhenya said. When he stepped away, Nikita took the opportunity to swat his ass.</p><p>It turned out, his time in Tampa had made Nikita plenty proficient at driving a boat. He steered them expertly out of the marina and into open water. All Zhenya had to do was sit in the passenger seat and watch the muscles of Nikita’s arms flex while he drove.</p><p>Outside of the no-wake zone, Nikita pushed the boat into high gear. The nose lifted up as the engine revved, racing away from the city. He clearly had a destination in mind because his course never adjusted. As they sped along, Zhenya saw fewer boats until, when Nikita began to scale the accelerator back, he saw none at all.</p><p>When Nikita cut the engine, the sudden influx of ocean noise seemed quiet by comparison. He turned in his seat to face Zhenya with a smug grin. “How was the ride?”</p><p>“I’ll show you a ride,” Zhenya retorted, reaching to pull Nikita into his lap.</p><p>Nikita straddled Zhenya’s thighs and rubbed his beard against Zhenya’s cheek instead of kissing him. “Well, we’ve got all day. What do you want to do first?”</p><p>“What’s on the table?”</p><p>“There’s fishing.”</p><p>“I like fishing.”</p><p>“There’s an innertube in here, too,” Nikita said, his mouth brushing Zhenya’s with every word. “A pair of skis.”</p><p>“What if we start with a tour?” Zhenya asked.</p><p>“Okay. This is the upper deck.”</p><p>“What about the lower?”</p><p>“That’s just a bed.”</p><p>Zhenya’s smile grew.</p><p>There were three steps down into the small cabin in the nose of the boat. As Nikita had mentioned, the whole space was dominated by a mattress with barely any headroom. Zhenya couldn’t even raise up entirely on his hands and knees, had to keep himself low to clear. Which was no problem since he could slither his way on top of Nikita and lower down in the cradle of his thighs, elbows braced on the mattress on either side of Nikita’s ribcage.</p><p>“Are you enjoying your tour?” Nikita asked, mouth pulling.</p><p>“More and more,” Zhenya said. Sometimes, he wished that he could pretend not to care like Nikita, that he could shield his feelings with sarcasm. But his initial fascination with Nikita’s incandescent eyes had only grown worse over time, spreading like oil to cover Nikita’s beard and hair, his ever-smirking mouth, his lean, muscular torso. Zhenya rucked up Nikita’s shirt to splay a hand across his abs as he thought about it. It felt even firmer than usual.</p><p>“I’ve been working out with Vasya,” Nikita said, answering the unasked question. “We do planks every day.”</p><p>“Hmm, good job,” Zhenya said, though the honest truth was he would like Nikita’s stomach just as well if it were soft. That was the consequence of months of infatuation—well over a year. If Nikita went bald and got fat and lost all his teeth at once, Zhenya would still find him beautiful. “Show me your hard work.”</p><p>Zhenya pushed up on Nikita’s shirt to assist with getting it off in the tight space, revealing his furry stomach and chest. His pecs were bigger, too, which served to make Zhenya realize how long it had been since he last saw Nikita naked—three months since Tampa played in Pittsburgh.</p><p>“God, I missed you,” Zhenya said with his mouth against Nikita’s chest. He mouthed along until he found a nipple and latched on.</p><p>“Did you miss only the left one or both?” Nikita asked, his smirk plainly evident in his voice.</p><p>Zhenya hadn’t been talking to Nikita’s nipples, but their relationship involved holding many things close to his chest. Nikita shied away from anything too sentimental, seemingly interested in keeping everything shallow and easy. Zhenya didn’t do fuck buddies well, but he could keep his heart on the inside, keep the peace. He set his teeth lightly into Nikita’s nipple and relished the hiss of inhalation the action prompted.</p><p>“The left one is very good,” Zhenya said, flicking his tongue out to circle it once more. When he pulled back, it stood at a firm peak. “I’ll compare them and get back to you.”</p><p>“It’s not a test drive,” Nikita said, but he made no protest when Zhenya set in on his neglected nipple.</p><p>Zhenya sucked on Nikita’s tits until he felt the bulge of Nikita’s dick straining up against his stomach. Smug self-satisfaction rolled through him, feeling the flex of Nikita’s hips, pushing his trapped cock against Zhenya’s abs for some relief.</p><p>Zhenya wormed his hand between them to flick the button on Nikita’s bougie board shorts. Nikita made a relieved sound and hooked his fingertips into the waistband to push them down over his ass. His cock sprang free, curving up toward his belly.</p><p>“Been a while?” Zhenya asked, chuckling as Nikita squirmed.</p><p>“You know it has been,” Nikita said. There was a whine in his voice that made him sound desperate instead of caustic. “I don’t have my teammates to take care of me.”</p><p>“You could always ask,” Zhenya teased. “Maybe Stammer would throw you a bone every once in a while.”</p><p>“Is that your fantasy?”</p><p>Zhenya propped himself over Nikita to look into the cerulean depths of his eyes. He tried to imagine Nikita bending over the Lightning bench during a game with Stammer fucking into him. He snorted a laugh and shook his head. “No, definitely not.”</p><p>Nikita kicked him in the butt and made an irritated sound to remind Zhenya what he <i>should</i> be doing. Zhenya lowered himself down enough for Nikita to get some pressure against his cock.</p><p>“Eager,” Zhenya said, more fond than teasing. Nikita responded by yanking at Zhenya’s shirt to get to the skin underneath. He rubbed a sticky trail of moisture from the tip of his cock along Zhenya’s stomach.</p><p>“I’ll show you eager,” Nikita retorted. He slid his hands down Zhenya’s back and got two good handfuls of his ass. “You’ll be coming on my dick in a minute.”</p><p>“You wish,” Zhenya said, though his stomach swooped at the idea. Again, he questioned the wisdom of taking their reunion out to the ocean instead of Nikita’s well-stocked bedroom.</p><p>“I don’t wish, darling.” Nikita released Zhenya’s ass to twist away from him, reaching under one of the pillows. “I <i>plan</i>.”</p><p>Zhenya caught a bottle of lube when Nikita tossed it at him and shook his head. “You thought of everything.”</p><p>Nikita shrugged without humility and crawled on his hands and knees for a kiss. “Take your clothes off and lay down.”</p><p>Zhenya couldn’t think of a single reason not to. He shimmied out of his shorts in the cramped space and whacked his elbow getting out of his shirt, but he ended the wrestling match victoriously naked. He started to lie down on his back, but Nikita made a disapproving sound. Zhenya grinned as he turned, presenting his ass for Nikita’s inspection.</p><p>“Look at you,” Nikita said, one hand coming up to cup around Zhenya’s ass cheek. He moved his hand back and forth, watching it jiggle. “Christ.”</p><p>Zhenya smirked to himself at Nikita’s overwhelmed tone and reached for a pillow to wrap his arms around. He sighed when he heard Nikita pop the cap on the lube, glad they were getting the party started. Nikita crawled up his legs to straddle the top of his thighs.</p><p>Instead of putting it on his fingers, Nikita upended the bottle of lube in a line from the base of Zhenya’s spine to his taint. It felt weird and clammy, but Zhenya held his tongue, curious where they were going.</p><p>Nikita straddled Zhenya’s thighs and laid the length of his dick between his cheeks. It was warm—more than warm, <i>hot</i>. Zhenya held still while Nikita gripped his ass in both hands and then flexed his hips forward.</p><p>“I wouldn’t even have to fuck you,” Nikita said, awed. “I could do it like this and get off just fine.”</p><p>“Yes,” Zhenya said, squirming down to get some pressure against his own dick.</p><p>Nikita nudged his hips forward. His slick cock slid effortlessly between Zhenya’s cheeks. He pulled only partway back, stopping when the tip of his dick found the slight give of Zhenya’s hole. Then he spread Zhenya’s cheeks with both hands, exposing the lube-wet skin to the comparatively chilly air. He seemed to get lost in a trance then, pushing Zhenya’s cheeks together and then spreading them.</p><p>When Nikita finally spoke, he said, “Nah, I’m going to make you cry first, then I’m going to fill you up. If you were a girl, you would leave this boat pregnant.”</p><p>“If I were a girl, you’d have married me by now,” Zhenya retorted, ignoring the bruised part of his heart that knew it was true.</p><p>“You don’t want to marry me. Think of the Penguins, the <i>fans</i>. Dating within your own conference—it would be scandalous.”</p><p>It was an old refrain. Zhenya pushed, and Nikita retreated behind his wall of caustic jokes, never engaging. Zhenya tried not to let it bother him, but his justifications were failing. At first, he could assure himself that Nikita simply wanted to take things slowly. Zhenya always moved too fast in relationships, and Nikita was young. He was new to the complexities of freely dating his own gender. But a year without advancing much beyond fuck buddies was getting tougher to swallow.</p><p>Nikita grunted through another thrust of his dick and swore as he pulled away. He nudged Zhenya’s legs apart to get between them and popped the lube cap again. This time, he poured it directly on target, chasing it with the pad of his thumb when it dripped away. He lingered there, pressing his thumb against Zhenya’s wet hole.</p><p>“What’s the delay?” Zhenya asked, teasing.</p><p>“Just admiring the view.” In a rare moment, Nikita actually sounded genuine—maybe even <i>fond</i>. He bolstered his words by bending over and kissing Zhenya’s shoulder. “What are you in a hurry for? We’ve got plenty of time.”</p><p>Zhenya’s pinned dick put up a protest about that, twitching against the blankets. “Some of us spent the morning on an airplane, not jerking off in bed, ignoring their texts.”</p><p>Nikita’s beard tickled Zhenya’s shoulder when it moved with his undoubtedly vicious grin. “I couldn’t jerk off, text you, <i>and</i> arrange the boat. Something had to go. Besides, you forgave me.”</p><p>“What makes you think that?”</p><p>“You came, didn’t you?”</p><p>“Not yet,” Zhenya said pointedly, lifting his hips to make contact with Nikita’s dick. “How about you make me, <i>then</i> we’ll talk about forgiveness.”</p><p>“You want me to earn it?” Nikita asked, taking his scolding with nothing but amusement. His hand cupped Zhenya’s ass while he kissed along his shoulder and up to his neck, fingers trailing down between Zhenya’s cheeks. He found Zhenya’s hole with two fingertips and just barely pressed one inside. “And if I don’t, what then? Will you spank me?”</p><p>Zhenya flexed his hips and coaxed Nikita’s finger further inside him.</p><p>“Would you take me up to the deck to do it? Bend me over the hull and smack my ass?”</p><p>“I’ll do whatever you want after. Just get in me.”</p><p>Nikita chuckled and worked his finger in and out. With a final kiss to Zhenya’s shoulder, he pulled back. “Yes, darling.”</p><p>Zhenya worried that Nikita might continue to tease him, but it seemed that even he had limits. Instead, Nikita knelt between Zhenya’s thighs and worked lube into his ass with two fingers until they slid, frictionless, in and out. Then he settled his thighs along Zhenya’s and pushed his cock inside.</p><p>The low roof forced Nikita to practically lie down on Zhenya’s back to fuck him. His mouth was so close to Zhenya’s ear, he could hear and feel Nikita’s trembling inhalations on the long, slow thrust into Zhenya’s body. Thankfully, his smart words usually dried up when his dick was busy. Zhenya flattered himself to think Nikita was focused too hard on not coming immediately to conjure sarcastic comments.</p><p>Nikita eased himself down until he was flat against Zhenya’s back, and even his balls were nestled happily on Zhenya’s skin. He was as deep as he could go, a satisfying pressure inside Zhenya while he barely moved on top of him.</p><p>“Zhenya,” Nikita said, his voice breathy and smooth, void of the usual bite. His hand crept up to touch Zhenya’s, threading their fingers together. His elbows closed on either side of Zhenya like he wanted to engulf him completely. Zhenya squeezed Nikita’s fingers lightly and nudged his hips back, a little movement to encourage him. </p><p>Bracing both hands by Zhenya’s ribs, Nikita gave himself enough leverage to pull back and push in. The glide of Nikita’s dick jolted a moan out of Zhenya that he failed to muffle in his pillow until the end.</p><p>“Nobody can hear,” Nikita said immediately. “I’ve got you.”</p><p>Zhenya turned his face out of the fabric. When Nikita thrust in again, he allowed himself a punched-out groan. Nikita huffed a disbelieving sound and sped up. He always liked it when Zhenya was loud, a rare treat for them when they weren’t secretly sneaking away for quickies. When they could fuck in a bed in a house with nobody else in it, Nikita wanted to see if he could make Zhenya scream.</p><p>With Nikita’s body heavy on top of him, Zhenya’s dick was pinned to the mattress, unhappy about the lack of attention. Zhenya got his knees under him enough to grasp his cock, but the small cabin limited their motions. Nikita was more grinding into him than thrusting, but it was unbearably good. Zhenya craned his head around to watch Nikita’s abs flex, using all his hard work in the gym to fuck Zhenya. Zhenya couldn’t stay twisted like that forever, but he committed Nikita’s sweaty stomach to memory before he smashed his face into the pillow to concentrate on jerking himself off.</p><p>Zhenya was on the verge when Nikita cursed, thrust in hard, and stilled. Zhenya could feel the twitch of his cock inside, the rush of sudden extra slickness. He pushed back on Nikita’s dick and sped his hand, hoping he could get off before he was empty.</p><p>Nikita pulled back before Zhenya could protest. His cock no sooner left Zhenya’s ass than three fingers replaced it. “God, you’re wet. I love coming in you.”</p><p>Zhenya’s dick pulsed against his palm—that would definitely do it for him. He moaned to encourage Nikita.</p><p>Nikita twisted his fingers inside. “Your ass is the sweetest pussy in the world. I can’t last. If we lived together, I would piss off your trainers fucking you all day. I would never nut anywhere else. You’d be wet all the time for me, always ready for my cock.”</p><p>Zhenya shuddered and bucked his hips, cock twitching against his palm as it spurted onto the bed.</p><p>Nikita pulled his fingers out and wiped them on the blankets before he crawled up to land beside Zhenya, grinning smugly. Zhenya didn’t rise to the bait—he wasn’t in the mood for teasing. He wanted to kiss Nikita and listen to the small waves lap against the hull in the quiet. Thankfully, Nikita allowed it, trading slow, lazy kisses while the boat rocked them peacefully.</p><p>When they managed to move, they settled onto the bench seat at the back of the boat with two fishing poles in holsters on the sides. Zhenya had to twist his back around to adjust the rod and keep his feet in Nikita’s lap, but it was worth it. Nikita rubbed a thumb in little circles over his ankle, more affectionate in his physical touch than he would ever let on with words. It made Zhenya wonder, sometimes. Fantasize about what could be. He let his eyes roam over Nikita’s face, wishing he could see directly into his thoughts.</p><p>“We could, you know,” Zhenya finally said, the words racing to cross the finish line ahead of his self-preservation.</p><p>“Hmm?” Nikita asked distractedly while pulling at his line to adjust the tension.</p><p>“Live together.”</p><p>“You horndog,” Nikita said, swinging around to grin at him. “You want me to fuck you again? All you have to do is ask. And wait a couple hours.”</p><p>“You’re too good to me,” Zhenya said, fighting off his nerves to chuckle with Nikita. “But seriously, Nika. We could do it.”</p><p>Nikita’s fingers froze on the fishing line mid-pull when he realized Zhenya was serious. Zhenya heard him swallow. “Looking for a trade?”</p><p>“No,” Zhenya said firmly. The times he had come close to leaving Pittsburgh had only strengthened his resolve to stay there, retire there. “But we don’t play year-round. There are months when we’re free to live wherever.”</p><p>“You want to live together only in summer?” Nikita scoffed.</p><p>“We won’t play our whole lives, either.”</p><p>Nikita side-eyed him, his unspoken message very clear. Zhenya picked a fake purple worm out of the tackle box on the floor and flicked it at him.</p><p>“Yes, all right. Some of us have less time left than others. Thank you for the reminder.”</p><p>Nikita’s grin started pulling at his face again, cruel as ever.</p><p>“But that’s all the more reason,” Zhenya continued. “I’m not getting any younger.”</p><p>“Step out of the grave, Zhenya. You’re thirty-three. Not exactly on the verge of retirement. What’s the rush?”</p><p>Zhenya pulled his feet off Nikita’s lap and sat up to lean close. “A year is hardly a rush. Don’t you think it’s time we started to get serious?”</p><p>“Ah, well. For that, you’d have to stop fucking Crosby.”</p><p>Not for the first time, Zhenya regretted being abundantly honest with Nikita in the beginning. He frowned away, out over the water.</p><p>“You act like it’s me holding you at arm’s length, but you won’t stop sleeping with other dudes.”</p><p>“It’s not like that,” Zhenya said <i>again</i>. Nikita knew; he just didn’t accept. “It’s a hockey thing. He’s not, you know—we aren’t in love.”</p><p>“Aren’t you? Could have fooled me with your Zamboni race dates—”</p><p>“That was for the team.”</p><p>“You don’t laugh like that with everyone, Zhenya. I know your laughs.”</p><p>“I don’t have a special laugh for Sid—come on.”</p><p>“And I don’t get serious about married guys.”</p><p>“We’re not <i>married</i>, don’t be so dramatic. We only do it after games, mostly. It’s like a cooldown.”</p><p>Nikita’s mouth pulled into a sardonic grin. “My boyfriend <i>mostly</i> only cheats on me 82 times per year.” He rolled his eyes into a pointed look at Zhenya.</p><p>“It’s not cheating. That’s not fair. I told you from the start—”</p><p>“Yes, I know. And I don’t mind, Zhenya, honestly. But I would be setting myself up for failure to get serious with you. Not while he could snap his fingers, and you’d come running.”</p><p>“He wouldn’t,” Zhenya said, too late realizing he was admitting the truth of his loyalty to Sid. “He’s had serious girlfriends before. Lived with one, even. He doesn’t care if I do the same.”</p><p>“You sure about that?”</p><p>Zhenya’s mind flashed to the strange interaction he’d had with Sid at the hotel. His face must have given him away, showing that he wasn’t entirely sure, because Nikita looked smug in response.</p><p>“Let’s just keep things as they are, hmm? I wouldn’t want to come between you.”</p><p>Zhenya slumped back against his seat and idly toyed with his line. He knew when the battle was lost.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*****</p>
</div><p>Zhenya didn’t see Sid again until morning when the team gathered for breakfast. He had dragged into the hotel with three minutes to curfew, when the halls were deserted, and collapsed into bed.</p><p>Thankfully, things with Nikita had gone back to normal after their talk. Zhenya even caught a fish, which he had to release—reluctantly. He had followed Nikita home and then out again, to dinner and dancing, and sucked him off in the car in a secluded area of the hotel parking lot.</p><p>It had been fun, Zhenya thought, stabbing eggs with his fork. He always had fun with Nikita.</p><p>“Too much salt?” Sid asked across the table from him.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You’re killing those things instead of eating them.” Sid gestured at the egg. “They bad or something?”</p><p>“They’re fine,” Zhenya said, and took a bite to prove it, which seemed to satisfy Sid’s curiosity.</p><p>If he wanted to convince Sid that everything was fine, Zhenya didn’t do himself any favors at practice. He broke a stick against the glass in frustration after missing the net five times in a row doing drills. He saw Sid detach himself from the boards to intervene and waved him down. But he knew it wouldn’t delay him forever.</p><p>Sure enough, Sid followed him into a calisthenics room after they shucked out of their pads and let the door close behind them. Sid said nothing while Zhenya started stretching, mindfully moving his body. Sid let him get deep into position, leg twisted in front of him while he leaned forward to target his hip, and then asked.</p><p>“Everything okay?”</p><p>“Yes, I’m okay. I hit net in game, no problem.”</p><p>Sid looked relieved at Zhenya’s light tone. He lowered down on the mat beside him and started stretching, too. “I was worried about you. You seemed kind of annoyed yesterday on the plane, so I thought something might be up.”</p><p>Zhenya rocked onto his back and pulled his knee toward him, stretching the other leg out. “You know, there’s some stuff. But it’s nothing.”</p><p>“Doesn’t seem like nothing,” Sid pushed. There were some subjects he would let die out of a desire not to talk about them. This wasn’t one. Undoubtedly, he wanted to make sure Zhenya was settled before they had to play. “Does it have anything to do with your date?”</p><p>Zhenya shrugged. He thought surely Sid would have seen the big red flag signaling him to back off, but he wasn’t so lucky.</p><p>“Did you and—did you fight?”</p><p>“No,” Zhenya said gruffly, but with a glance up. Sid was looking at him expectantly. He couldn’t even force Nikita’s name out of his mouth, but he thought he was ready to listen to Zhenya rail about his relationship problems. Zhenya sighed. If that’s what Sid wanted. “Maybe, little bit. I ask Nikita to move in with me in Moscow. Offseason.”</p><p>“Oh,” Sid said, because he was absolutely <i>not</i> ready to talk about this. “And, uh. He said no?”</p><p>“He say only if I not fuck you anymore.”</p><p>“He wants you to stop?” Sid said, voice sharp with sudden worry. “What did you say?”</p><p>“I say, sure. Sid change his routine always, so it’s no problem.” Zhenya raised up a little to grin at the muted horror on Sid’s face, even though he could tell Zhenya was kidding.</p><p>“So, you told him no?”</p><p>Zhenya shrugged and nodded. “I have you first. He knows this.”</p><p>“Did you break up?”</p><p>“No, nothing like that. We just stay the same as before, sex but not more.”</p><p>“Good,” Sid said. When Zhenya stared quizzically at him, he withered. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—I don’t want you to break up with your boyfriend.”</p><p>Zhenya softened his rigid stance and nodded. “I know.” He did know. Sid was always supportive of his relationships, as long as they didn’t interfere with what they had.</p><p>“Maybe he’ll come around,” Sid said.</p><p>“No, I don’t think so. He think we’re married.”</p><p>Sid didn’t laugh at that. Instead, he looked up with interest in his eyes.</p><p>“It’s silly, huh?” Zhenya said, returning to his back to swing a leg open and stretch the inside of his thigh.</p><p>“Yeah,” Sid said. His voice sounded far away and distracted. “Silly.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*****</p>
</div><p>Zhenya went to Nikita’s again after practice, but he didn’t bring up anything contentious. He had resolved himself to having as much fun as possible before their teams played each other. It wouldn’t do any good to pressure Nikita—it would only push him into his sarcastic shell. And besides, there was no compromise to be had. Zhenya wouldn’t give up what he had with Sid, so they were at an impasse.</p><p>He would admit, a vindictive little part of him really wished they could have won the game, though. In some small way, it would have felt like winning the fight. But, despite Zhenya playing well and getting a goal, the Penguins lost. They dragged themselves back into the visitors’ locker room without chatter, the only noises being the thump of skates on protective rubber. And as they began to strip, even that much sound faded away.</p><p>Sid took the media. Since his return from injury a month ago, the cameras had turned away from Zhenya. Just when he was starting to get used to it, he had joked to Sid, but really he was grateful for the reprieve. It was nice to just strip out of his pads and sit back in his stall for a while to cool down while the rest of the team beelined for the showers.</p><p>When the cameras were done with him, Sid did the same thing, clothed only in a towel as he leaned back against the wood. Zhenya didn’t try to talk to him, not yet. It was the way they did things. They sat together in the locker room until everybody else had washed, but they didn’t talk until after. They always took the showers last, when it was empty. When the last player filed out, Sid moved, and Zhenya went with him.</p><p>In the showers, Zhenya could see the tense lines of Sid’s body—upset, no doubt, that they lost. It didn’t change anything. They did it whether they won or not.</p><p>Zhenya approached Sid under the spray of the showerhead, sliding a hand slickly over his wet hip. He had done it probably a thousand times, approached Sid like this. Usually, Sid would turn, open his posture to bring Zhenya close. They would kiss. The kisses would lead to more.</p><p>To Zhenya’s surprise, Sid grabbed his wrist and pushed it away.</p><p>“Not right now.”</p><p>Zhenya hovered. He felt like Sid had pushed him into a different dimension, one where he wasn’t sure where he stood with Sid. Or maybe Nikita had pushed him there. “Sid?”</p><p>Sid’s eyes came up. Water dripped from his eyebrows. His smile looked strained. “We’ll talk outside.”</p><p>Zhenya stumbled away to his own showerhead in a tornado of conflicted feelings. He scrubbed himself distractedly, one eye on Sid to see if he might change his mind. If this was a joke of some kind, it was distinctly <i>not</i> funny. But Sid simply washed himself down, rinsed off, and left. He left Zhenya feeling not like the only man in the shower but the only man in the universe. He hurried to rinse off and follow.</p><p>Back in the locker room, stung from the rejection, Zhenya pulled ahead in the race to get ready. He threw on his clothes without looking at Sid and strode out wordlessly. He didn’t really think he could get away if Sid wanted to talk to him, but he could try.</p><p>The attempt didn’t go far. Sid caught up with him outside the locker room doors, still shrugging into his blazer, and fell into step beside him toward the exit.</p><p>“Come with me, okay?” Sid said, eyes forward.</p><p>“Where we going?”</p><p>“Uber.”</p><p>“To hotel?”</p><p>Sid halted with a hand on Zhenya’s arm to stop him, too. He swung around to face Zhenya, somehow looking both sheepish and determined. “I thought we might meet at Kucherov’s. Nikita’s.”</p><p>Zhenya barked a bitter laugh. “Okay, no way. He don’t want see you.”</p><p>“I, uh—” Sid scratched the back of his neck like he did when he had to answer a hard question. “He’s expecting us.”</p><p>Zhenya’s caustic amusement drained away.</p><p>“So. Yeah,” Sid continued. “Let’s go.”</p><p>Sid stepped off, and years of conditioning convinced Zhenya’s feet to go with him. His mind was stalled, racing without reaching a solution. It was like this with Sid sometimes, when he got determined. There really wasn’t anything to do other than to follow Sid and pray.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>*****</p>
</div><p>Nikita answered the door still in his game day suit, just like Sid and Zhenya. His eyes, colored like stormy seas, scanned up and down Sid before turning to Zhenya. He looked equally unimpressed by both of them.</p><p>“Well,” Nikita said, sounding resigned to whatever was about to happen to him. “Don’t just stand there.”</p><p>Zhenya’s lungs, frozen since they stepped up to the door, let out the breath he had been holding. “He say come in,” Zhenya translated for Sid, earning a sharp look from Nikita who—admittedly—had not said anything so welcoming. Maybe because Zhenya had softened his words for him, Nikita switched to English.</p><p>“I think we need drinks for this, yes?” Nikita asked, eyes on Sid only.</p><p>“Couldn’t hurt,” Sid conceded. He was loosening his tie. He followed when Nikita walked away, turning for the kitchen. Zhenya trailed behind them both, out of the loop on what <i>this</i> might be.</p><p>Zhenya entered the kitchen. His world felt off-kilter, the axis misaligned by the sight of Sid and Nikita together. They were shoulder to shoulder in front of the small wine rack on the counter.</p><p>“Red or white?” Nikita asked.</p><p>“Vodka?” Sid said. He was joking, but Zhenya could practically see Nikita’s eyes light up from behind. Nikita moved to the freezer and pulled out a very <i>very</i> expensive bottle.</p><p>“Cups,” Nikita said, ordering Sid around. Zhenya continued to live in an alternate dimension when Sid followed Nikita’s pointer finger to a cabinet and gathered three glasses. When he put them down, Nikita poured a hefty three fingers into each and smoothly scooped up two. He sauntered across the kitchen in his red-bottomed shoes to hand a glass to Zhenya. “You look pale, darling. Have a drink,” he said, switching momentarily back to Russian.</p><p>Well, Zhenya thought as he shakily took the glass. At least he was still Nikita’s darling. He tossed back the whole glass in one go and got an admonishing look from Nikita about drinking thousand-dollar spirits without tasting it. Nikita silently retrieved the bottle to refill him.</p><p>“Don’t get drunk, G,” Sid said. “We’re here for a reason.”</p><p>“What’s reason? You guys gang up on me?”</p><p>Nikita turned an inquisitive stare on Sid—he clearly wondered the same thing.</p><p>“Nobody is ganging up on anyone,” Sid said. “We’re going to come to an understanding.”</p><p>Zhenya exchanged a doubtful glance with Nikita.</p><p>“You’re not comfortable with me and Geno,” Sid continued.</p><p>Nikita hesitated and shrugged. “No, it’s okay. You can do whatever you want.”</p><p>Sid ignored his response and charged on. “Because you think I’m going to steal him?”</p><p>Nikita looked to Zhenya, who tried to convey helpless confusion as loudly as possible without speaking.</p><p>“You’re thinking about it all wrong,” Sid said. “I’m not going to steal him—he’s already mine.”</p><p>“Sid!” Zhenya cried.</p><p>“But,” Sid continued, holding up a hand against Zhenya’s protest. “I don’t mind sharing.”</p><p>Zhenya gaped between them.</p><p>Nikita continued to look outwardly bored, but he swallowed a gulp of vodka with a click in his throat. “I know this already. Zhenya tells me.”</p><p>“I think you need me to show you.”</p><p>“Is this guy seriously about to suggest a threesome?” Nikita asked Zhenya in Russian.</p><p>“Sid,” Zhenya said, stepping between them. “You don’t have to do this. It’s okay. Nikita don’t want—”</p><p>“Nikita can talk for himself,” Nikita said haughtily. He scanned Sid again with an unreadable expression, then switched back to English to say, “Show me what?”</p><p>“You’re going to watch me and Geno.”</p><p>“That will help?”</p><p>“I think so.”</p><p>Nikita sipped his vodka with an air of cool indifference—he was stalling, but Sid might not know that. Zhenya reached for him, touched his hand, and spoke in Russian.</p><p>“This doesn’t have to happen.”</p><p>“Does he do this for your other boyfriends?” Nikita asked.</p><p>“I don’t have any other boyfriends, Nika.”</p><p>“In the past, you know what I mean.”</p><p>“Never,” Zhenya admitted. “He ignored them. If he met them, he treated them like strangers—polite, but distant.”</p><p>“So, I’m special?” Nikita asked. A spark of cruel amusement lit in his eyes—a swath of light over a dark sea, guiding the way to safety.</p><p>Zhenya wouldn’t even know how to lie in answer. He squeezed Nikita’s hand and answered sincerely. “You’re <i>very</i> special.”</p><p>Nikita made a considering sound with the rim of his glass against his lips. When he drained the last of his drink, he did it with an air of resolution. “Okay,” he said in English. “Come with me. Bring the bottle.”</p><p>Zhenya stayed as Nikita pulled his hand away and stepped off, watching Sid. Sid met his gaze, defiant, and didn’t ask Zhenya’s permission. He grabbed the bottle and followed Nikita.</p><p>Zhenya trailed after them to Nikita’s bedroom, heels clicking on the hard floor. He toed the shoes off halfway down the hall to silence his steps. When he entered the bedroom, he found Sid shrugging out of his blazer while Nikita leaned against a dresser, heels crossed at the ankles, watching. Zhenya stopped between them like a fly in a web, uncertain where to turn his attention.</p><p>“Geno,” Sid said. There was an unexpected authority in his voice. Not for the first time, Zhenya thought this might not <i>entirely</i> be about making Nikita comfortable with their arrangement. He wondered how much of it was Sid showing off, proving to Nikita that Zhenya would follow his lead.</p><p>Which Zhenya did, unquestioning. He turned his socked feet toward Sid and went to him. Sid wrapped a hand around his bicep when he grew close enough, turned his body to welcome Zhenya’s. Sid tipped his chin up, and Zhenya leaned in before he hesitated—eyes flicking toward Nikita.</p><p>Nikita’s eyes burned at Zhenya, but not in a bad way. He didn’t look angry. When he caught Zhenya looking, he gestured him on with a little nod.</p><p>Zhenya sank into Sid like he always did, finding his lips like a warm, old blanket—comforting and entirely familiar. Even with Nikita watching, scrutinizing, Zhenya didn’t think it was possible to feel uncomfortable while kissing Sid.</p><p>When Zhenya pulled away, Sid offered him a bare little smile. “You had a good game.”</p><p>It was crazy. They were standing in Nikita’s house well over an hour after the game ended, and Sid wanted to start their ritual like they were in the shower back at the arena. A post-mortem for the game and a refresh on their closeness. Win or lose, it was a cherished part of game nights.</p><p>Sid stroked his cheek and continued warmly. “A goal, an assist. A fight, and you would have had a Gordie Howe.”</p><p>“Zhenya will never fight my team. He’s afraid I won’t fuck him after,” Nikita chimed in. Zhenya didn’t miss the sharp glance Sid shot across the room for interrupting.</p><p>“You do good, too,” Zhenya said, pulling Sid’s attention back to him.</p><p>“Don’t lie,” Sid said, voice hardening. “It’s not helpful.”</p><p>Zhenya ducked his head to lean his forehead against Sid’s. Fondness pressed against the inner walls of his chest, expanding out through his pores. If anyone else had come back from Sid’s injury, he would be the first to forgive them for being a step behind, but he could never extend the same kindness to himself.</p><p>“I don’t lie,” Zhenya whispered, keeping his comforting words well away from Nikita. “You’re getting faster.”</p><p>“Not fast enough.” Sid’s words were clipped, impatient. Zhenya laughed at him and kissed him.</p><p>“Let me suck you.”</p><p>“That’s what you want?”</p><p>“It is,” Zhenya said, increasing his volume to let Nikita back in. “Watch you turn Hedman, make him fall—get me hot. I want to suck you.”</p><p>Nikita snorted behind them. Zhenya could hear him pouring more vodka into his glass.</p><p>Sid licked his lips and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Anything.”</p><p>Zhenya kissed him and got his hands on Sid’s belt. <i>Anything</i>, Sid said. He would do anything.</p><p>Zhenya knelt, following the motion of his fingers pulling Sid’s zipper down. He tugged Sid’s briefs down with his trousers, pooling them around Sid’s feet on the floor. Sid was only half-hard, just starting to stand away from his thighs when Zhenya leaned in to plant a kiss to the base. Sid’s neatly-trimmed pubic hair still smelled like soap from the shower. He splayed his hands out on Sid’s thighs.</p><p>“Take your shirt off,” Nikita said. Zhenya jolted, pulled back, and glanced up at Sid for his input. Sid shrugged.</p><p>“It’s what we’re here for.”</p><p>Zhenya agreed. He shucked his shirt off so Nikita could watch his back flex while he felt up Sid’s thighs.</p><p>“I appreciate it, darling,” Nikita said in Russian before seeming to remember he needed to stick to English. “I mean Sid. You take off.”</p><p>Zhenya gaped upward again, this time positive that he would find Sid with his jaw clenched, annoyed by the interruption and the request.</p><p>But Sid surprised him. “It’s your house,” Sid said genially, working the buttons to get his shirt open. When he dropped it onto the floor, he was left with nothing covered but his feet. Zhenya craned back to look again at Nikita and found his eyebrows arched with interest, eyes roaming over Sid’s body.</p><p>Sid’s dick bobbed in Zhenya’s peripheral vision. When he looked, he found it standing near full mast. Nikita was blatantly watching Sid, and Sid was into it.</p><p>Zhenya returned his hands to Sid’s thighs. He turned his eyes upward to see if Sid was still watching Nikita and found him looking back instead. Sid reached for him, cupped his jawline, and ran his thumb down to the corner of Zhenya’s mouth, stroking across his lower lip. Zhenya sucked Sid’s thumb in and ran the flat of his tongue along the ridges of his fingerprints. When Sid withdrew his hand, Zhenya chased the retreat only long enough to get his mouth on Sid’s dick. He kissed the head where a bead of moisture gathered.</p><p>“We don’t normally get to do it like this,” Sid said, running his fingers lightly across Zhenya’s hair. After a baffling second, Zhenya realized he was talking to Nikita. He was <i>narrating</i>. “Usually, there’s kind of a rush. The guys are pretty nice about giving us space after games, but at some point, they have to pack up the locker room. We have to get off and get out.”</p><p>Zhenya flicked his eyes up to Sid again, gauging what the fuck he thought he was doing. Sid was still looking at him. He smiled gently, privately, nothing showy.</p><p>“This is nice, though. We can take our time.”</p><p>Zhenya anticipated the retort from Nikita, something along the lines of, <i>Not in my house. I don’t have all night.</i></p><p>But Nikita said nothing, and Zhenya took the opportunity of a silent room to work his mouth down over Sid’s dick. By the time Nikita spoke, Zhenya was slurping to keep the spit in his mouth while swallowing around Sid’s whole dick.</p><p>“I don’t understand. You can go to hotels, house in Pittsburgh. Why do you save this only for locker room?”</p><p>Zhenya pulled back, ready to snap at Nikita, but Sid anticipated him. He pressed his fingers into Zhenya’s shoulder, just the wrong side of painfully, to get his attention.</p><p>“It’s okay,” Sid assured him. “We’re good. Keep going.”</p><p>Sid nudged on Zhenya’s shoulder to get him back to work, and Zhenya reluctantly acquiesced. Sid clearly didn’t mind the interlude—his dick had not waned at all.</p><p>“We do, sometimes,” Sid admitted. “Hotels. Houses. But, you have to understand—we’re connected by hockey. This is part of it.”</p><p>Zhenya adjusted to get a rhythm and moved his hands to cup around Sid’s hips, ears perked for the conversation while he kept his mouth focused on pleasure. </p><p>“That’s all,” Nikita asked, a caustic doubt creeping into his voice. “Just hockey?”</p><p>Sid huffed. His dick twitched in Zhenya’s mouth with the flex of his stomach. “Hockey is kind of a big deal to me. So, you know. Geno is too.”</p><p>From Sid’s mouth, it was practically a declaration of deep and undying love.</p><p>“And what about when hockey is over?” Nikita said. He didn’t sound as moved as Zhenya felt by Sid’s words.</p><p>“Come on, bud,” Sid breathed. At first, Zhenya thought he might be encouraging him and picked up the pace, but Sid continued. “Nobody’s ever really done with hockey.”</p><p>Nikita made a reluctant sound—agreeing.</p><p>“I guess what I’m trying to say is—just because you always have hockey doesn’t mean you can’t like other things, too.”</p><p>Nikita snorted. “What about me, Zhenya? I’m what—golf?”</p><p>Zhenya sucked Sid’s dick real good for that remark. He could feel the tremble in Sid’s thighs.</p><p>“I think you can be whatever you want,” Sid said. The words carried a weight Zhenya didn’t fully understand until Sid nudged him to stop. He followed the tug of Sid’s hand in his hair to pull back, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and turned.</p><p>Zhenya was <i>not</i> prepared to find Nikita, still entirely in his suit with the trousers open, palming his hard dick up against his stomach. “Jesus Christ, Nika,” Zhenya said in Russian.</p><p>“What?” Nikita responded in kind. “You put on a show. I don’t get to enjoy it?”</p><p>Zhenya swung his eyes back to Sid at the touch of a hand on his shoulder. “Go on,” Sid said, jerking a small nod toward Nikita. Zhenya understood perfectly—go convince him.</p><p>“You can enjoy it from over there,” Zhenya said. He was going for a seductive vibe, but his knees popped as he rose to his feet. Nikita clearly fought a smirk at the audible crack of Zhenya’s old bones, but he kept idly playing with his dick. “Or,” Zhenya continued, sauntering up.</p><p>“Yes?” Nikita replied, tipping his chin up defiantly as Zhenya entered his space.</p><p>Zhenya cupped his hand around Nikita’s on his dick. “You can come join in.”</p><p>Nikita’s eyes darted to the bed. Sid had stepped out of his puddle of clothes. He was perched on the edge of the mattress, making himself right at home. Zhenya held his breath when the two of them locked eyes, deciding his fate. When Nikita moved to wrap a hand around the back of Zhenya’s neck, he knew a resolution had been reached. He followed the pull to Nikita’s mouth.</p><p>Kissing Nikita so soon after Sid highlighted the differences between them. Whereas Sid used his mouth slow and deliberate, a swaying dance for Zhenya to join in, Nikita <i>fought</i> him. His hands were everywhere as he clutched at Zhenya, demanding that he come closer even if it was impossible. He refused to break away to unbuckle Zhenya’s belt, his whirlwind hands clawing at the leather and then the wool underneath until he could push him all the way out of his trousers.</p><p>By the time Nikita let him go, Zhenya was naked, and they were standing by the bed. Sid was an arm’s length away, watching them with hot interest but not interfering. Nikita pushed at Zhenya’s chest to nudge him toward the bed.</p><p>“Play with your boy a second,” he said, stepping back to shuck out of his blazer.</p><p>Zhenya’s knees appreciated the soft bed more than the wood floor when he crawled onto the bed and into Sid’s lap. He rubbed his balls comfortably against Sid’s thighs while they kissed, warm and soft.</p><p>A drawer opened and closed. Nikita’s footsteps, quieter now that they were bare, approached the bed. Zhenya’s heart jumped into a new rhythm when Nikita’s hand cupped his shoulder while he was still kissing Sid.</p><p>“Here,” Nikita said, holding out the hand not touching Zhenya. Sid pulled back to look at what he was being offered—a bottle of lube. His eyebrows jumped.</p><p>“Oh. We don’t normally—”</p><p>“When you don’t have time. Today, you do,” Nikita said. God, he was <i>testing</i> Sid. His compulsive need to push buttons extended to this, their intimate negotiation.</p><p>Sid actually looked shaken. Nikita had spotted some weakness in him, pulled his bowstring back, and fired precisely on target. Sid’s eyes found Zhenya’s, unsure. It wasn’t as though they had never gone beyond jerking each other off in the shower, but it was hardly a post-game staple. Zhenya cast his mind back. The last time had been after they were eliminated—swept—from playoff contention, when they both needed something <i>more</i>.</p><p>“If you don’t want, I can,” Nikita pressed, moving his hand to cup around Zhenya’s ass.</p><p>“Sid,” Zhenya whispered, dragging his lips against Sid’s ear. “Fuck me.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Sid breathed, reaching to grab the lube away from Nikita.</p><p>Zhenya could feel Nikita’s eyes watching every move as Sid coated his fingers and slipped them between Zhenya’s cheeks. He rocked against Sid, rubbing off on his belly while Sid pressed his finger over his hole, just dipping inside at first.</p><p>“Zhenya likes that,” Nikita said to Sid. “I do the same, just touch little bit. Maybe we’re not so different.”</p><p>So that was Nikita’s play—figure out something that would knock Sid off his high horse, revenge for trying to explain Zhenya to Nikita like he had no idea. Sid only huffed in response, focused on Zhenya. Zhenya pushed his knees farther apart, asking for more, and Sid obliged by working his finger inside.</p><p>Apparently, Sid took the invitation to move slowly and take his time very seriously. He spent half an age just dipping his finger in, making Zhenya wet with lube. Zhenya was happy to sit there as long as Sid wanted to play with his ass, but—to his surprise—Nikita became impatient. </p><p>“If you can do it like this,” Nikita said, reaching for the lube. Zhenya’s hips twitched at the feeling of another finger sliding in alongside Sid’s.</p><p>“Fuck,” Zhenya groaned when Nikita crooked his finger, lolling his head on Sid’s shoulder. He said it in Russian, but he didn’t think he disguised his response from Sid at all. His dick was drooling, the head entirely soaked and leaving trails down Sid’s stomach.</p><p>“Like this?” Sid asked. Another jolt left Zhenya hissing in the almost-too-much pleasure of it.</p><p>“I hate you,” Zhenya said in Russian.</p><p>“Because I’m training him for all the things he should have known before? You’re welcome. I’m making him a better husband.” Nikita withdrew his finger and smacked Zhenya on the ass. He moved away, crawling past them to settle against his headboard, watching them with a hand around his dick, looking smug as hell.</p><p>Sid kept up the pressure until Zhenya couldn’t stop the roll of his hips. His dick was so hard he was mouthing at Sid’s shoulder while he forced himself not to touch it. And then, abruptly, Sid stopped.</p><p>“You’re pretty close,” Sid said.</p><p>“No shit,” Nikita chimed in, earning an exasperated glance from Sid.</p><p>“Come on,” Sid continued. “Get up.”</p><p>Zhenya followed the push of Sid’s hands, malleable to Sid’s whims until he was on his hands and knees. Sid didn’t stop him there, kept guiding him until he got to Nikita. When he was eye level with Nikita’s dick, Sid’s hands cupped around his hips and stopped him.</p><p>“Suck his dick, G.”</p><p>“You know, this guy isn’t so bad,” Nikita said in Russian. “I’m starting to really like him.”</p><p>Zhenya hoped Nikita couldn’t see the fondness in the roll of his eyes, but considering he was lowering to his forearms to get his mouth in range, it was probably pretty obvious. He parted his lips and let Nikita guide the head of his dick against them, running back and forth. Zhenya darted his tongue out once, stealing the taste.</p><p>As Zhenya played with Nikita’s cock, Sid settled behind him, a heavy presence against the back of his thighs. Sid wasted no time putting his dick against Zhenya’s hole, so slick with lube that he had to hold himself back from sliding all the way in. He nudged his hips forward, entering Zhenya a little at a time.</p><p>Zhenya sucked Nikita down just before Sid bottomed out, muffling his moan with a mouth full of dick.</p><p>“Oh, Zhenya,” Nikita breathed. “Look at you.”</p><p>Zhenya couldn’t look, but as Sid pulled back to nudge in again, the start of a cautious rhythm, he could imagine. He let the forward momentum of Sid’s thrusts push him down onto Nikita’s cock and pulled back with the retreat of Sid’s hips. Happily spit-roasted on his two favorite dicks, he knew exactly what he looked like.</p><p>“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Nikita continued. He trailed his thumb down the side of Zhenya’s mouth where it stretched around his dick.</p><p>Truthfully, Zhenya couldn’t believe it either. He never would have thought it was possible that Sid and Nikita would work together like this. He wouldn’t have even been brave enough to ask. But here they were, the three of them moving as one, together.</p><p>And it was all because of Sid.</p><p>Zhenya reached back, grasping for Sid’s hip in an acknowledgment, a thanks. Sid ran a hand down his back and patted his ass. He got it. Zhenya returned his elbow to the mattress and redoubled his efforts on Nikita’s dick.</p><p>Sid picked up the pace, and Zhenya went with him, his mouth getting sloppy and wet with spit as he focused on keeping his tongue pressed to Nikita’s shaft. He wormed a hand between them to cup Nikita’s balls, juggling them lightly as he sucked him down. He could feel the tremble in Nikita’s thighs, the twitch of his hips. He knew Nikita wouldn’t last.</p><p>“Zhenya,” Nikita said, tapping his shoulder. Zhenya pulled back to let Nikita get a hand on himself, jerking urgently. “Open your mouth,” he said tightly.</p><p>As Zhenya pulled back to do what Nikita asked, Sid slowed his thrusts down, just rocking inside Zhenya. Zhenya could imagine Sid watching Nikita stroke his cock, bicep bulging as he brought himself off with a relieved groan. He spurted mostly into Zhenya’s mouth, only some of it catching him on the chin.</p><p>“Fucking hot, G,” Sid said, picking up the pace of his hips again. From the shaking in his breath, he wasn’t far behind. Zhenya could relate. Now that he had a hand free, he worked it down to get it around his own dick. </p><p>“No, let me,” Nikita said just as Zhenya got a grip on himself. Nikita shuffled down the mattress until they were face to face, licking the taste of his release out of Zhenya’s mouth. He held out a hand to the side. “Give,” he said in breathless English.</p><p>Without hesitation, Sid grappled for the lube bottle and squirted a line down Nikita’s palm. Zhenya bucked when the cold lube touched his cock, but Nikita’s hand quickly warmed it up, working him with a purpose—no teasing at all.</p><p>Zhenya tore his mouth away from Nikita’s and buried his face against his neck instead, thighs trembling with the delicious pressure of Nikita’s hand until he tipped over the edge. He groaned and dragged his teeth against Nikita’s collarbone, the release feeling like a victory.</p><p>“Fuck, G. I’m coming too, Jesus,” Sid panted, hips working in frantic little jerks until he buried all the way inside and went still.</p><p>The only sound left in the room was heavy breathing before Sid moved, pulling away from Zhenya.</p><p>“Thanks for the assist, bud,” Sid said. It took Nikita a second, for realization to dawn in his face that he was talking about jerking Zhenya off.</p><p>“Probably last time I help you,” Nikita said, eyes sparkling. He was obviously joking, the sneer in his voice ruined by his boneless, post-orgasm pleasure.</p><p>“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Sid chuckled, heaving himself away to collapse in the pillows. Zhenya’s brain struggled to find the strings that controlled his limbs, but he eventually got everything going again and followed. He moved with Nikita, settling between them. His naked men who had done something exceptional.</p><p>“I think you should move in with Geno,” Sid said, breaking the silence.</p><p>“Hmm,” Nikita replied doubtfully. Zhenya’s heart sank. After all the work, after everything, they were back at square one. He would deny it again. “Why do you want?”</p><p>“I’ve always wanted an excuse to visit Moscow,” Sid said simply. “We could do this again there.”</p><p>“We can do this again anywhere,” Nikita said with a groan. “You have rules for everything.”</p><p>“I do, yeah. Sorry.”</p><p>“No,” Nikita said, and Zhenya’s heart turned to stone, thinking he was giving his final answer on moving in. Then he looked and found Nikita’s smirk full of fondness—fondness directed at <i>Sid</i>. “I think you’re not sorry.”</p><p>Sid shrugged. “I guess not.”</p><p>Nikita shook his head and leaned in to kiss Zhenya. “Okay,” he said in Russian against Zhenya’s mouth. “You win.”</p><p>Zhenya picked his head up, gauging Nikita’s sincerity by his face. “I win?”</p><p>“For the record, I was moving anyways,” Nikita said, unable to concede entirely. “I don’t like my condo in Moscow. The hard floors. It echoes.”</p><p>“I have rugs everywhere in mine,” Zhenya said. “No echoes.”</p><p>“Yes, I know. You can tell him that’s the only reason I agreed.”</p><p>Zhenya kissed him joyfully. “Sure, okay. I’ll tell him the threesome meant nothing, but a few Persian rugs and you were sold.”</p><p>Nikita’s mouth pulled into its natural state—a smirk. “That’s right.” </p>
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  <p>*****</p>
</div><p>When Zhenya slunk off the bathroom to clean himself up, he came back to find Sid and Nikita almost shoulder to shoulder against the headboard. They were watching something on the wall-mounted television—one of the new Star Wars movies, it looked like. Zhenya had a type, he thought as he retrieved the vodka on his way back to the bed. Dorks. But he was glad to see that they were getting along. </p><p>They polished off the bottle while lounging on Nikita’s bed like house cats, moving only to get more comfortable. Zhenya slumped down into the pillows until his heavy head came to rest on Nikita’s shoulder. His eyes began to droop soon after. </p><p>“G,” Sid’s voice cut through the haze of Zhenya’s half-sleep. He waited for Zhenya to crack his eyes open, lazily at first and then with a start when he found Sid standing beside the bed, dressed. “I’m taking off, okay?”</p><p>Zhenya rolled his head to face the clock on the wall, squinting. It was 2 in the morning. Thankfully, they didn’t have a curfew before days off because they would be well past it. Before he could say anything, Nikita saved him the effort. </p><p>“Oh, stay,” Nikita said with a benevolent wave of his hand. “You’re drinking. You can sleep here.”</p><p>Zhenya knew before Nikita finished talking that Sid wouldn’t take the offer. Even when they’d slept together in hotels or at Zhenya’s house, Sid never stayed. He didn’t sleep over. </p><p>“Okay, I walk you out,” Zhenya said. He groaned his way up to his feet. Sid looked relieved that Zhenya didn’t add his voice to Nikita’s pressure to stay. </p><p>They waited for Sid’s ride on the stoop, enjoying the winter air in Florida—a cool, pleasant nip on the breeze rather than a harsh freeze. The chill sobered Zhenya up a little and cleared his thoughts. He glanced subtly at Sid a couple of times before he edged into his space and nudged against his shoulder. </p><p>“Thanks.”</p><p>Sid’s tight smile didn’t go all the way up to his eyes. “Well, you know. You really like him.”</p><p>“Really like you, too.” Zhenya said. Apparently, the cold hadn’t taken all of the alcohol out of his system. He braced for Sid to laugh or swiftly change the subject or say something awkward and call him buddy a handful of times like he did when Zhenya got a little too affectionate.</p><p>Sid didn’t totally deflect, but he looked away and said, “I don’t think it’s the same thing.”</p><p>“Maybe not,” Zhenya conceded. He held his tongue on the rest. His English brain was much too tired to get into intricacies about like and love and how far Nikita would need to climb to reach Sid’s pedestal in Zhenya’s heart. </p><p>“Do you think it really worked?” Sid asked. “Think he’ll move in?”</p><p>“Sure, I think. He move in with me for summer, then you come to Moscow.”</p><p>“I’ve always wanted to see it,” Sid repeated with a strange something in his tone.</p><p>Zhenya glanced down the driveway at the flash of headlights. The Uber was turning toward them. “You want I come with you?” </p><p>Sid’s eyes sharpened at him. “You don’t want to spend time with Nikita?”</p><p>“He’s fine, maybe he’s already asleep. Who knows?”</p><p>Sid studied Zhenya’s face for a long beat. When he smiled, there was satisfaction in it. Something about knowing that Zhenya would leave with him if he asked seemed to put him at ease. “Nah,” he said as the car pulled up. “You stay here. You guys don’t see each other enough. We’ll be together plenty tomorrow.”</p><p>“Okay,” Zhenya agreed. They were heading out of Tampa in the morning for Miami to play the Panthers. “You take me out for dinner, then. I want crab cakes.”</p><p>“Sure. It’s a date,” Sid said, and then looked sharply at Zhenya like he was a little flustered by his words. “I mean—”</p><p>“No, don’t take back,” Zhenya said, jumping in to stop Sid’s retreat. “It’s date.”</p><p>Sid ducked his head and grinned his way into the car. He waved at Zhenya behind the glass before the Uber took off. Zhenya raised his hand to his lips and blew a kiss. Sid looked embarrassed and overwhelmed but also very thrilled by the gesture, smiling softly as the car pulled away. Zhenya turned to head back inside. </p><p>Nikita was, in fact, mostly asleep. He was sprawled on his back, so Zhenya crawled up and tucked under his arm. Nikita stirred. </p><p>“Everything okay?” he mumbled.</p><p>“Everything is perfect,” Zhenya said.</p>
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